BP to slash 4,000 jobs globally as oil prices drop

Oil prices are plummeting to levels they haven’t seen since 2003. Add in the fact that BP Oil announced it plans to cut more than 4,000 jobs over the next two years and things are looking down for the oil industry.

This April 27, 2010 file photo shows a BP petrol station in Bournemouth, in southern England.(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK-- Oil producer BP plans to slash more than 4,000 jobs over the next two years as oil prices plummet.

BP will reduce its global upstream staff from 24,000 to "well below" 20,000 by the end of 2017, the company said in an emailed statement.

BP's upstream operations are made up primarily of its of exploration and production activities for oil and gas, and employs people in at least half a dozen U.S. states, including Texas, Alaska, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

"This is part of a move being announced at a number of our offices today," the company said in the statement.

The London-based company declined to comment on how many of the cuts might impact its 17,000 U.S. staff.

The cuts come as the price of oil drops to news lows. On Monday, the price of crude oil dropped 5% to $31.41 a barrel, based on WTI Crude Oil benchmark. That's half of its worth last spring.

During a townhall event at its Aberdeen office in northern Scotland Tuesday, BP said 600 of the cuts would take place at it operations in the North Sea, or the swath of ocean between the U.K. and the rest of Western Europe.

“Given the well-documented challenges of operating in this maturing region and in toughening market conditions, we need to take specific steps to ensure our business remains competitive and robust," Mark Thomas, regional president for BP North Sea, said.

"An inevitable outcome of this will be an impact on headcount and we expect a reduction of around 600 staff and agency contractor roles by the end of 2017, with the majority of these taking place this year," Thomas said.

BP remains committed to the North Sea, Thomas said, and will invest around $2 billion of capital into North Sea projects and another $2 billion into running its North Sea operations this year.